The Bahamas Sees the First ever Long-range Delivery through Drones

Volans-i, Inc, a California based firm into on-demand delivery of drones, has collaborated with FIi drone, a hogfish ventures business. The partnership is facilitated to provide enhanced on-demand drone delivery in the Bahamas by bringing in world-class UAV technology to the nation.

Fremont, CA: Volans-i and FIi are both into on-demand delivery of drones and both are now strategic partners. As part of enhancing drone delivery across the Bahamas, both the companies together have successfully finished the first long-range delivery through drones in the Bahamas. This accomplishment carried out on 18th June, 2019 is perceived as the beginning of the aerial service delivery era in the country. The event was attended by dignitaries from governing bodies, public and commercial sectors.

Additionally, this was the first incident in which a controlled airspace saw a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) being operated within an operational international commercial airport and not just for emergency operations.

The drones were equipped with features such as vertical take-off and landing abilities which allowed them to land safely and deliver the goods. In this first-ever UAV flight, nearly fifty miles were covered both on water and land. Until that day, goods were delivered in this stretch by car and further, by a ferry.

The route started at Abaco Aviation Services, a privatized FBO near the Leonard M. Thompson International Airport, Marsh Harbor, and ended at Green Turtle Cay. The long stretch was covered within 28 minutes.

Why The Bahamas?

Both companies view the Bahamas as a nation that is closely following and are willing to adapt to the latest technologies. Therefore, the nation could be one of the most opportunistic places with respect to UAV deployment.

The inter-island country is currently in need of a highly streamlined supply chain process that can be employed to deliver to any island with minimal infrastructure.

Further, since the nation still has a huge amount of untapped potential with respect to employing drones for goods delivery, firms plying in the arena will have enough opportunities to explore. In about a year, FIi Drone is planning to expand its on-demand drone delivery services in collaboration with Volans-i across the nation to about seventy plus locations. There would be two main hubs and the daily transportation capacity would be around 1000 lbs of cargo.